Bulldogs can't overcome Braves' early lead

By DAVID ERICKSON - Whitefish Pilot

The Whitefish boys outplayed the Class AA Flathead Braves for three quarters on Friday night in Kalispell, but it was an ugly first quarter that cost them the game.

The Whitefish boys understandably didn't have any way to contain Brave junior Brock Osweiler, who stands a ridiculous 6' 8". Osweiler put up a season-high 30 points by himself and grabbed 11 boards.

The Bulldogs looked a little dazzled early on by the speed and physical defense of the Braves and the frenzied Kalispell crowd.

Bulldog coach Eric Stang called three time-outs in the first half to try to calm his squad down and adjust to the Kalispell game plan.

By the second quarter, the Bulldogs began tightening up on defense and stopping some of the Brave's fast breaks that were killing Whitefish early on. While very few shots would go in the bucket for Whitefish in the first quarter, at least the Bulldogs were able to get to the free-throw line a little more.

"We started off slow, and we did a poor job defensively, allowing them to control things," Stang said. "They had a zone that was kind of slowing us down. We decided we were going to have to attack the inside to open up the perimeter. We also didn't want to allow direct passes."

In the final three quarters, Whitefish actually looked like they could beat Kalispell. They outscored the Braves in two quarters and tied them in scoring in one.

There was no way to erase the big deficit from the first quarter, but the Bulldogs showed they could at least hang with one of the best Class AA teams in the state when they wanted to.

The Bulldogs didn't allow Osweiler to grab a single offensive rebound until late in the fourth quarter.

"They actually did a great job (getting rebounds)," Stang said. "We got the score down to nine points in the final minutes, but then Osweiler started getting rebounds after free-throws, and we kept fouling him, and he made all his free-throws, which hurt us. We could have closed the gap at the end."

The game was strikingly reminiscent to the Bulldog's loss to Ronan, when one bad quarter overshadowed three quarters.

"We played well for three quarters, but one bad quarter ruined it, so we just need to stop doing that," Stang said.

Whitefish junior guard Cold Idol scored 24 points and went 9-for-11 from the paint. He also had three treys and five rebounds. Senior guard Shawn Watterud scored 15 points. Junior guard Matt Whitehead had eight points, all in the second half. Junior guard Aaron Tkachyk had five points, but played very well on defense.

The Whitefish boys will get another shot at the Braves on Jan. 17. Mark your calendars, this rivalry game will surely be a thriller.

Whitefish 7 10 20 15 - 52

Flathead 25 10 18 12 - 65

Whitefish (4-3) — Matt Whitehead 2-5 3-4 8, Aaron Tkachyk 1-4 3-6 5, Shawn Watterud 5-13 3-4 15, Alex Elespuru 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Backer 0-2 0-0 0, Marc Hotzfield 0-0 0-0 0, Brian Flickinger 0-1 0-1 0, Colt Idol 6-14 9-11 24, Jake Smith 0-0 0-0 0, David FauntLeRoy 0-6 0-0 0. Totals 14-45 18-26 52.

Flathead (5-1) — Jake Thiesen 2-4 0-0 4, Sam Tedrow 2-3 0-0 6, Michael Gallagher 0-3 3-8 3, Danny Salois 1-4 4-10 6, Austin Roehl 0-0 0-0 0, Charlie Dotson 3-5 1-2 8, Connor Cavigli 2-4 0-0 4, Coltin Hoffenbacker 0-2 0-0 0, Josh Harris 2-3 0-4 4, Brock Osweiler 11-14 8-10 30. Totals 23-42 16-34 65.

3-point goals — Wht. 6-17 (Idol 3-7, Watterud 2-7, Whitehead 1-3), Flt. 3-9 (Tedrow 2-2, Dotson 1-1). Rebounds — Wht. 28 (team 7, Idol 5, Watterud 4, Flickinger 4, four with 2), Flt. 31 (Osweiler 11, Salois 6, Cavigli 4, Hoffenbacker 3, Roehl 2, two with 1). Assists — Wht. 5 (five with 1), Flt. 16 (Salois 4, Osweiler 3, Dotson 3, Tedrow 3, Thiesen 2, Cavigli). Steals — Wht. 8 (Smith 2, Backer 2, four with 1), Flt. 11 (Salois 4, Roehl 3, Thiesen 2, two with 1). Blocks — Wht. 0, Flt. 5 (Osweiler 2, Harris 2, Cavigli). Turnovers — Wht. 19, Flt. 15. Total fouls — Wht. 26, Flt. 24. Fouled out — Flickinger, Tkachyk, Roehl. Technicals — Watterud, Roehl, Whitefish coach Eric Stang.